Stitch puller



G. L. WERTIN 7 2,764,386

STITCH FULLER Sept. 25, 1956 Filed May 1, 1950 United States Patent STITCH PULLER George L. Wertin, Leaf River, Ill. Application May 1, 1950, Serial No. 159,182

1 Claim. (Cl. 254-28) This invention relates to a new and improved stitch puller for use by book binders in the removal of wire staple stitches from magazines and the like.

In the printing and binding of magazines, for. example, a defect may be noticed in one section of the magazine and a run of several thousand copies has to be unbound and rebound so that the defective section may be replaced by a good section. Previously, the work of removing the stitches involved bending out the clinched ends to approximate parallelism, and then prying the stitches out from the other side, using a knife or other like tool for both parts of the operation, all of which took entirely too much time and was tiresome and tedious work, not to mention the danger it involved of damaging the magazines and scratching and cutting the workers hands. It is, therefore, the principal object of my invention to provide a new tool of simple and economical design which will permit prying out these stitches in a single operation and in a fraction of the time it took the old way, and also without any of the attendant dangers of damage to the magazines and injury to the workman.

The tool of my invention comprises a pair of pliers, the lower jaw of which is sharply pointed or tapered to permit easy insertion directly under the cross-bar of the stitch, without bothering to straighten the clinched ends, the pliers being fulcrumed on a base by means of the pivot pin pivotally connecting the jaws, so that with the leverage thus afforded and the firm grip that is at the same time possible when the jaws are closed by closing the handles, the stitch can be pried out easily in one operation and without any likelihood of damage to the magazine or injury to the workman.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. l is a side view of a stitch puller made in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view, and

Figs. 3 and 4 are perspective views showing the twostep operation of this tool, namely, the insertion of the tools lower jaw under the cross-bar of the stitch, and the subsequent gripping and prying out of the stitch.

The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding parts in these four views.

The tool comprises a pair of pliers 5 fulcrumed at 6 in a forked projection 7 provided intermediate the ends of a base 8. The pivot pin 6 providing the fulcrum is the same pivot pin pivotally connecting the jaws 9 and 10 of the pliers 5. The lower jaw 9, which is tapered or pointed to a chisel-like extremity to permit easy insertion under the cross-bar 11' of thestitch 12, and provides a transverse groove 13 in its top face to receive the crossbar, has the upper handle 14 extending rearwardly from and integral with its pivotal intermediate portion 15, so that downward pressure on this handle will serve to pull out a stitch when the cross-bar thereof is entered in the V groove 13. The upper jaw 10 may be of any suitable form, no special tapering or pointing being necessary in this instance, and it has the lower handle 16 extending rearwardly from and integral with its pivotal intermediate portion 17. Hence, when the handles 14 and 16 are tightly closed, as in Fig. 4, the upper jaw 10 grips the cross-bar 11 of the stitch and eliminates any danger of the tool slipping and letting go of the stitch in the prying out thereof. Sufficient leverage is afforded so that a stitch can be pulled out easily without first straightening its clinched ends 18 on the other side of the work 19. The base 8 is of sheet metal construction for lightness and economy and is elongated to the extent shown, both ways from the fork 7, to lend stability and facilitate operation all around. Its forward end is preferably notched out, as at 20, to provide operating clearance for the lower jaw 9 so that the latter can be entered under the cross-bar 11 of a stitch located closely in front of the end of the base. The base is, therefore, not apt to teeter forwardly, inasmuch as it bears on the work so close to the stitch being pulled. The pliers may or may not include the wire snippet portions 21 on the jaws thereof.

The operation of the tool should be clear from the.

foregoing description, particularly with the aid of Figs. 3 and 4 illustrating the steps of insertion of the tool and prying out of the stitch.

While I have described the invention as applied to wire stitch or staple pullers in the book binding or magazine binding art, it should be clear that the invention is not limited to that specific use. Tools of this same general type may also be used for other work. Thus, for example, electricians, I believe, have need for a staple puller where they have used insulated staples on exposed wiring and want to remove the wiring quickly and without ruining the wire or staples. Also, galvanized wire staples such as are used by farmers and others for fastening wire netting and wire fencing to wooden posts present a problem when it is desired to remove the same, and a tool of the present type, but, of course, of larger and more rugged design would be ideal for that kind of work. Other uses will, no doubt, occur to those skilled in the various arts where a tool operating on the present principle would be applicable.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding of the objects and advantages of my invention. The appended claim has been drawn to cover all legitimate modifications and adaptations.

I claim:

In a plier device for pulling out wire staples from bound magazines and the like, the combination of a base of elongated form and wide in relation to the width of a staple to be pulled, adapted to rest on the work with one end thereof disposed adjacent and substantially parallel to the cross-bar of a staple to be pulled, and a pair of elongated pliers pivoted on a horizontal axis on said base in vertically spaced relation to the end portion adjacent the staple, said horizontal pivotal axis coinciding with the pivotal connection between the members of said pliers, the members of said pliers comprising an upper handle extending from and integral with a lower jaw, whereby the lower jaw is conveniently operable by manipulation of the upper handle alone in the engagement thereof under the cross-bar of a staple to be pulled, and a lower handle extending from and integral with an upper jaw cooperating with the lower jaw, said lower and upper jaws being openable and closable by oscillation of said handles to grip the cross-bar of a staple, and the staple being pulled out of the work by oscillation of the pliers relative to the base, the lower jaw having its extremity cut away on the upper face so as to provide a tapered chisel-like end portion, which end portion is capable of being wedged easily beneath the cross-bar of a staple in a short movement with minimum danger of damage to the work, the cutaway defining a groove transversely of the upper face of said lower jaw in which the cross-bar of the staple is adapted to be retained and gripped between the jaws when the jaws are closed, the end portion of said base adjacent the staple being cut away at the middle to provide operating clearance between the opposite sides of the cut-away portion for the lower jaw of said pliers, whereby to enable disposition of the device with the end portion of the base substantially straddling the staple to be pulled.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Allen et al May 14, 1867 Cronk Dec. 7, 1909 Allen Jan. 4, 1916 Singer May 8, 1917 Robertson June 4, 1918 Drypolcher June 4, 1940 De Generes Sept. 13, 1949 

